A Knight's Quest
by Baldore
Summary: Kyle Knight returns to Palmont City after being framed for a crime he didn't commit. When he returns, the city's changed, racing has changed...but it was time to clear his name. Time to take the city back. Time to race!
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer_; I own only my original changes, material or characters. Need for Speed Carbon is property of EA Games...

Prologue

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><p>*Five years ago. Palmont City.*<p>

Five hundred thousand dollars.

Even in Palmomt city, one of the world's largest centers of street racing, that much money was quite a bit for a single sprint. And if it's that big of a jackpot, then it would attract some racers. Only the best would enter though, the rest would be weeded out or too timid to enter.

And Kyle Knight fit the bill. An upcoming racer, he had managed to make it to the race. Raw talent, pure determination and several heats had clinched one of the for spots for him.

His car sat in an alleyway out of sight of prying eyes as other racers and spectators trickled in to watch. Kyle frowned as he ran the last minute checks on his car, his pride and joy. The heats had taken a toll on the car and he wasn't sure it'd make it through the race.

Suddenly, two cars pulled in and the driver of the first car hopped out. The first was a man in a red jacket and a black hat, with a smirk on his face. He slammed his blue car door shut as the second driver got out.

The other was a woman in shorts, a blue t-shirt and long black hair tossed behind her shoulders. She carried herself with confidence, perfectly aware of her beauty. Kyle turned and leaned on his car as the drivers got out. "Nikki! Darius. You guys are finally here."

"Kyle, I'm the starter for the race." Nikki said with an eye roll but still gave her boyfriend a quick embrace.

"And of course I'm going to support a good friend." Darius said before dangling a set if keys in his hand. He shook the ring, so the light glinted off them. "That car won't make it through the race. And I happen to have a spare."

Kyle looked at the keys and a smile split across his face. "Really? Thanks-"

"Just don't disappoint me, Kyle." The keys flew through the air before Kyle caught them deftly out of the air. "And you'll owe me one."

"Right," Kyle ran a hand through his blond hair, walking over to Darius' car and running a caring hand over it. "I owe you one then. Sweet ride."

"Well, race is starting is starting soon, see you at the start line." Nikki flashed the men a smile before walking over to where the green staring flares were being set up, red bag slung over his shoulder.

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><p>Kyle's, or rather Darius', car slid into the starting slot. The light danced blue car's silver streaks as it pulled in between two other racers. The driver did a quick surveying of the competition while he waited for Nikki to start the race.<p>

The sneering driver next to him was Kenji, in his black and green tuner. Another driver, mug like Kyle, trying to gain a piece of Palmont. The cocky competitor had even formed a fierce crew that went by the name of Bushido. Kyle gave h a friendly nod but just got a snort and a glare in response.

To the other side of Knight, was a more senior racer. Leader of the 21st street crew and temper to match, was Angie. Her grey with orange muscle, paired with her aggressiveness made her a dangerous opponent. When he gave a tentative good luck wave, she just spat in his direction. Wonderful.

And finally, in his silver and blue exotic was Wolf. The guy easily had the most racing experience on the streets of Palmont and his TFK crew weren't ones to be crossed lightly. He gave an slight inclination of his head at Kyle's 'good luck' gesture.

"Start her up," Accompanied by a tap on the window drew Kyle's attention away from the other racers. Nikki walked past, starting flag in hand, the bag of prize money swinging over her shoulder. Kyle smiled at her and thought he saw her wink back.

Then she was all business, quickly showing off the bag. As soon as she finished, the flag rose Ito the air, hanging in the air for a second like a lost cloud...

Before plummeting to the ground like a hammer to an anvil.

Instantly, all of the racers shot off, Angie's muscle taking the muscle at the start, with the others hot on her tail. Kenji ripped the lead from her as they tore around the first turn, managing the sharp twist of the road with expert skill.

Kyle and Wolf raced to take the lead at the strait-away, Darius Exotic neck to neck with the more senior racer. They were evenly matched, both cars and their drivers refusing to give an inch to the other. Kyle risked a quick glance into his blindspot but nearly collided with a civilian car for his troubles, ending back in third.

The four cars tore through the city, the leader changing constantly with the others hanging on their tail. Each car was weaving in and out through traffic, vying for that spot ahead of the other three cars.

As the final turn appeared, Kyle made his move. He threw his car into the next gear, floored his gas petal and activated his nitros, slingshotting around the curve. The other three crew leaders followed closely but with the finish in sight, Kyle knew he had the win clinched.

Suddenly, blue electricity arced out from an alleyway. Kyle slammed on the breaks, spinning his car around in a practiced movement...

To see chaos. The other racers' cars were shut down, cops quickly materializing out of nowhere, making arrests.

Wolf had two cops placing handcuffs on him...

Angie was struggling to break out of one if the PCPD's grasp, fighting and kicking...

Kenji was already cuffed and being led to an awaiting police cruiser...

More polices swarmed out of alleyways and hiding spots like ants, suddenly everywhere...

A spotlight from a helicopter scanned the area, causing all the spectators to start fleeing...

It was chaos.

"Nikki!" Kyle screamed, spotting her getting up from the ground, knocked over by another fleeing person. A cop spotted her running and took off after her. Nikki spotted the policeman and sprinted, red bag and long black bouncing and swinging. "Get in!"

She reached the car but was just as quickly pulled away by the cop. And suddenly the red bag was in his car, as Nikki yelled one desperate cry.

"Go!"

Kyle flattened the gas, car accelerating away like a bullet. Spotting an alleyway, he charged through and barely avoiding a collision.

His car flew away into the night, leaving the sounds of the street race and the bust behind.

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><p>One ring...<p>

Ring, ring...

Two rings...

Ring, ring...

Three-

-click-

"Hello?"

"Darius, it's Kyle. What's going on?!" The frantic driver was already to the other side of Silverton, trying to avoid being seen by police cruisers and choppers.

"No clue. The cops just appeared, they're arresting everybody." A moment of silence punctuated by both members heavy breathing. "Kyle, get out of town."

"What? But-"

"Go. Between the heat of the crews, you're gonna have to walk away. Take my car. Go, get outa here."

"You sure?" Kyle's car faced the highway out of town. One road and the bust would be history...but so would Nikki. "What about Nikki?"

"I'll take care of her, Kyle. Just get outa here, the cops are swarming everywhere. Get out while you can," The sound of a care starting up and the screech of tires were heard over the phone. "Gotta go... Good luck, Knight."

Kyle's car pulled onto the highway as Darius line went dead. The man could handle himself and he'd helped Kyle out of a jam. So time to skip town...

'I've heard Rockport's nice this time of year...' He mused.

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><p><em>Author's Note; <em>There you have it! The prologue to_ A Knight's Quest_, thanks for reading! This story will follow the story of NFS; Carbon (With me taking some creative liberties to make the story better) and I hope you enjoy it! Now, this is my first un-beta'd story so I hope it's not to horrendous. And a final warning, since this is my third ongoing story, unless it becomes insanely popular and gets rave reviews, updates won't come real often, unfortunately, sorry. Until next time, thanks for tuning in, Baldore out!


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer_; I own only my original changes, material or characters. Need for Speed Carbon is property of EA Games...

Chapter One; Triumphant Return

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><p>It had been so long. Five long years of what felt like banishment. The City still looked the same from this distance, hopefully it was still the same. It'd be good to see Darius and Nikki again.<p>

Especially the latter.

He hasn't seen her in so long, would she even recognize him? Would she forgive him? Would she hate him? Had she changed at all? What'd she look like?

The thoughts swirled around in his head, the cacophony slowly growing louder until he thought his head would burst.

Frantically he shook his head, scattering the thoughts. Re-focusing on the road, he sighed. After so long long, even with changes, he would certainly love to be home again.

Suddenly an engine roared and a car rammed into his car. The car swerved radically and Kyle struggled to get his car back under control. _'Who the heck-?!_' He thought glancing in his rearveiw.

Unfortunately, he recognized the car immediately.

Cross.

The ex-cop turned bounty hunter was still after him ever since Rockport. Though his bounty might have something to do with that. The guy would arrest him and turn him in just for revenge. . .and the money of course.

Kyle pealed around the canyon route, closely followed by Cross. If he could get some distance between them and get into town, he could find a spot to avoid heat. . .

Cross' car rammed the fender again, making Knight press the gas even harder. He quickly picked up speed, now traveling at a pace that most would consider suicidal. He knew he could handle it though, whipping around the tight canyon curves at breakneck speed. You have to be able to in a street racer's line of work. Cops and bounty hunters came with the territory.

Somehow, Cross managed to keep pace, staying right on his target's tail as they flew down the road. Knight pushed his car to it's limit, he had to get away from Cross. He didn't come to Palmont just to be arrested. It would make for the world's shortest homecoming.

As Palmont City's glowing lights came in to view, Knight risked a glance in his rearveiw mirror. The red and black bounty hunter's car was far enough back that Kyle would have enough space between them to escape.

Kyle grinned. _'Home free_,' he thought with a grin as he turned back to the road. Just a little bit further and he'd lose Cross easily.

Then it all went wrong.

A truck brimming with huge metal pipes lay in the middle of the road. And he didn't have time to avoid it.

Kyle slammed on the brakes, managing to slow the car but still careening into the truck. His car spun out as it flew into the truck, crunching as the two vehicles collided. With a loud clang and a snap of restraints, the pipes fell and quickly covered his car. He wasn't going anywhere.

And to add insult to injury, his airbag popped out and smacked him in the face.

Kyle rubbed a small cut on his forehead, new from the impact. He apparently wasn't completely unscathed from his brush with the law and death. Then he fumbled for a second with the lock, try to stumble out of the car. Maybe he could still run for it. . .

"Sit _down_," Cross snapped, slamming the door back shut. He leant down next to the window, looking rather upset, angry and pleased with himself. All at the same time. The cop turned bounty hunter really must have been looking forward to this. "How ya feel? It's about time to settle an old score from Rockport, don'tcha think?"

Before Kyle could even respond, Cross was interrupted. Two sets of headlights appeared, belonging to red, exotic cars. The door of the far vehicle opened, revealing several people Kyle didn't recognize, and the second opened to reveal. . .

Darius?

"I don't remembering asking for your help, Crock." Darius stated coolly, addressing the former cob coldly. The red clothed racer did not seem pleased with Kyle's captor. "Silverton's my turf."

"It's Cross." Came the curt reply. "And this guy's from out of town."

That seemed to get Darius' attention and he noticed Kyle for the first time. Then he grinned, though he made it hard to disconcert it's purpose. The smile looked just as malicious as it did cheerful. Like the smile a cat would give a cornered mouse to let it know that it was toying with the poor creature's life. "It's been a long time, kid."

"Yeah. It has."

Darius nodded, turning back to Cross, still smirking. "What's his bounty...?"

"A hundred and fifty K."

"David," Darius said, addressing one of the others. Presumably a lackey. "Take care of the bounty hunter."

The man nodded and he and Cross walked over to David's car, out of sight. Presumably to settle the bounty. Or to set up a poker night. Kyle really wasn't sure.

Walking over to Kyle's car, Darius grinned once more. That same creepy, patronizing smile. "So. That's what you've been up to."

"Yeah, Rockport. Racing there's been pretty crazy but-" The sound of an engine rolling up pulled Knight's attention away. The black and red Ford GT looked hauntingly familiar. "Is that...?"

"Nikki. This should be interesting."

Said woman slammed her door shut. Spotting the crashed car, and more importantly, it's driver, a look of rage grew over her face. Nikki stormed over, boots clacking ominously. A siren ready to rip an unfortunate sailor apart. "How dare you?! How dare you show your face here?!"

"Woah, woah, calm down." Darius soothed, grabbing her around the waist to restrain her for slugging Kyle, havng to lift her up in the air from her momentum. Nikki fought before finally calming and fuming beside Darius.

"We're still not sure what happened that night you left," Darius admitted when he was sure Nikki was sated enough. Meaning that she wouldn't simply kill Kyle once she had the chance. Which prompted him to wonder what had happened to make her that angry. Then again, he had left without so much as a goodbye. . . "But the way I see it, you still owe me, Kyle. Double now."

"Yeah," The racer admitted. Darius'd warned him to split town. He owed him for that. And now saving him from Cross. "What do you want me to do...?"

"Well, it's getting a little crowded here with all these smaller crews fighting for territory. And you have some skills that I could use."

"So, what? You want me to be your _wingman_?"

"No, no." Darius shook his head. "It's a lot simpler than that. "I just want you to get done turf and I'll get a cut if the profits. That way, you can clear your name and debts and I'll get something to. How about it?"

"Yeah-Wait, clear my name?"

"Oh, yeah. You've been gone a long time, Kyle. Things have changed and that night...well, nobody is quite sure what happened." Darius sighed. "Anyway, now that we're in agreement, Nikki. Show him the ropes."

"You can't mean-" Kyle and Nikki spoke up nearly in synch.

"Yeah. Come on, we're all old friends, right?" Darius asked, smiling.

"Fine," Nikki growled, jerking her thumb at her car. "Get in before I change my mind, Knight."

Kyle sighed, nodded to Darius and jumped into the passenger's seat. She just glared at him for a second before starting the engine. Kyle opened his mouth to speak only to be cut off by another withering stare.

It was going to be a long drive.

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><p>Author's Note; Finally, chapter one is done! Long time since I posted this so I thought it'd earned another update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to get this updated again in the semi-near future. Until next update, Baldore out!<p> 


End file.
